North Korea

The arrival of Kim Jong one in China for his very first multilateral meeting was always going to make the headlines.

But it was the intelligently dressed girl standing just behind him while he came out of his armored train who drew the attention of the observers of Korea: Kim Ju Ae, the daughter of the North Korean leader.

According to the South Korea espionage agency, Miss Kim is the most likely successor of her father.

But the details – including his exact age – are thin on the ground. So what exactly do we know?

Miss Kim has, for several years, supposed to be the second of Kim Jong Une and his wife, Ri Sol-Ju, three children. The exact number, and commands them, is in no way certain, however: Kim is very secret about his family, presenting only his wife to the public after their marriage for some time.

Kim Ju Ae is their only child whose existence has been confirmed by the management of the country. No other child was seen in public.

The news of his existence emerged for the first time through an improbable source: the basketball player Dennis Rodman, who revealed to the Guardian newspaper in 2013 that he had “held their baby Ju ae” during a secret trip.

We then heard of her until November 2022, when she appeared alongside her father during the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

In February the following year, she appeared on postage stamps and attended banquets for senior officials – described as the “respected” girl from Kim Jong Un.

The adjective “respected” is reserved for the most venerated in North Korea. In the case of his father, he was called “respected comrade” that after his status as a future leader was cemented.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) of South Korea provided legislators some additional details on the little girl at the same time, according to the AP news agency.

They said that she loved riding, skiing and swimming, and that she was educated at home in the capital Pyongyang. They suggested that she was about 10 years old.

In January 2024, the NIS had arrived at another conclusion: that the little girl was the successor “most probably” of Kim Jong one – although they noted that there were “many variables” still at stake, especially because of the young age of her father.

Since then, she has appeared many times of her father. Standing next to him at ICBM launches and military parades, she took the scene and received military greetings from superior military commanders.

But on Tuesday marked the first time that she was seen outside North Korea, and the trip is likely to fuel the speculation that she could succeed by her father.

The Kim family, which has ruled North Korea since 1948, told citizens that they come from a sacred line, which means that only they can direct the country.

However, there are speculations according to which Kim presented his daughter at this stage to try to overcome prejudices in the deeply patriarchal state, which has never been led by a woman.